Defendants vulnerable to coronavirus released from Brooklyn jails

At least 10 Brooklyn inmates have been released from jails as part of a growing effort to get vulnerable detainees out of crowded facilities amid the coronavirus outbreak, officials told the Daily News.

Mayor de Blasio said Thursday that he had identified 40 defendants who will be moved out of custody as part of the city’s effort to stem the spread of the virus — but the Brooklyn District Attorney separately called on defense attorneys to put forward cases in which they think people should be released because of the virus.

Advertisement

“We have been working closely and expeditiously with the courts and public defenders to identify those defendants who are vulnerable to COVID-19 and should be released,” a spokesman for the Brooklyn DA told The News in a statement. “We are balancing public safety with containing the spread of the virus and, so far, have consented to about half the requests.”

More defendants are expected to be released in the coming days in addition to the roughly 10 Brooklyn defendants released with the consent of the DA, according to a law enforcement source.

Advertisement

The Brooklyn DA is also looking to release people in city jails with sentences of under a year.

Brooklyn’s Chief Administrative Judge Matthew D’Emic said defenders and prosecutors have been working all week to identify cases in which vulnerable defendants should be released.

The judge said he had released five or six defendants already this week due to the virus.

If both defenders and prosecutors agree to the release of a defendant, then a judge can order the release without lawyers or the defendant having to appear, which limits traffic to the courthouse, D’Emic said.